Episode 969: The Literally Hot Hitter
Date October 27, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about mean-spirited nicknames, then answer emails about Kyle Schwarber’s bat, Jon Lester’s long con, the neglected White Sox drought, the Nationals’ 2016 “success,” overcoming bad broadcasters, paying to play in the World Series, and more. Topics * Pitcher rest days * Warming the bat * Jon Lester's hypothetical long con * Neglecting the Chicago White Sox World Series win * Did the Washington Nationals have a successful season? * Games with fewest at-bats or plate appearances * Paying to play in the World Series * Moving the replay room * Dealing with non-sabermetric broadcasters Intro Zeus, "Throw it on the Fire" Outro The Mynabirds, "What We Gained in the Fire" Banter * Games 1 and 2 of the World Series * Sam reads two pages from Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract regarding nicknames in the 1930s. Email Questions * Brady: "If a pitcher comes in after pitching on the previous day, is he coming in on zero or one days rest." * Anton: "Watching last night's game I saw Kyle Schwarber rotating his bat in front of the heater in the dugout. The commentator mentioned that he was warming up the wood. Is this a common thing? I hadn't seen it before. What advantage would there be to warming up the bat? Could a player do the opposite, say soak it in liquid nitrogen so it would shatter for a good bunt? Are there rules about adulterating the bat like this?" * Jon Lester: Jon Lester picked off a runner to clinch the World Series "Would the amount of championships added strictly from this play outweigh his career long inability to hold on runners?" * Alex: "It seems like the White Sox breaking an 87 year doubt was oddly lost to history. Why do you think this is?" * Frederick: "I'm not sure how you can consider the Nationals' season a success after another embarrassing playoff loss. The Nats were the rebuilt Cubs before the rebuilt Cubs. They've also made outstanding trades. Yet, they haven't won a playoff series ever despite being the best team in the NL since 2012. Can you guys please reevaluate their season?" * Nathan: "How much would the average player pay for the chance to play in the World Series?" * Matt: "Presuming the current structure of a league-wide replay hub, that hub need not be in New York. Why not get creative with the location of the replay hub? Possible ideas include: auction the location rights, make the replay booth a traveling circus where replay officials conduct reviews inside a fishbowl that fans can see. Where should replay be held to maximize fan enjoyment, MLB profitability, and general ridiculousness?" * Rob: "Do you have any recommendations for how to listen to a game when the announcers are stuck in the past worse than the manager?" Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to review games with the fewest plate appearances by a single team. * There have been three games in MLB history where a team had 25 plate appearances. * There is a game where one team had 19 official at-bats during a game. Notes * Both Ben and Sam believe that if Jon Lester could throw a good pickoff throw to first he would have already been in a high enough leverage situation that would have required throwing over. * Sam thinks that while the Nationals season was marginally successful, they did not have to leverage their future in order to make the playoffs. * In a nine inning game the fewest possible plate appearances for a team is 25. * Ben and Sam think that Kyle Schwarber was likely just warming the bat so that it felt better in his hands. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 969: The Literally Hot Hitter Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes